


Executive Decisions

by ThirdGenerationRockette



Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: F/M, Post Series, featuring the McHales
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-19
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-21 10:55:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13739400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThirdGenerationRockette/pseuds/ThirdGenerationRockette
Summary: It was her first executive decision as ACN president, that before she hurled herself into the new job she and Will were going to take a week off and visit her parents.





	Executive Decisions

It was her first executive decision as ACN president, that before she hurled herself into the new job she and Will were going to take a week off and visit her parents. Losing Charlie, Will spending weeks in prison, finding out about the baby...when the magnitude of it hit her all she wanted was to hug her mother, to be away from New York for a few days, and she knew it would be good for Will too. So here they are, climbing out of a taxi as a grinning Penny McHale comes dashing from the house to hug them like she hasn't seen them in years.

Reaching for one of their suitcases, she's not surprised when Will's hand gets to it first, frowning at her as he picks it up, doing the same with the second one. It's only been a few days and as much as she'd like to hope he'll relax a little, she knows it's more likely that she'll just have to try and get used to his over-protectiveness for the remainder of her pregnancy. Shaking her head at the thought of the long months ahead of her, she follows her mother into the house and down the hallway.

"Is Daddy not here?" She looks around the kitchen as they walk in, before looking back at Penny.

"He's napping, darling," her mother says, sighing gently and squeezing her shoulder. "He's chasing off the last dregs of a beastly migraine, but he did seem a lot better when I checked on him a while ago. Now, you...you look wonderful, darling. Marriage certainly agrees with you."

"Well, it's early days and Will's been in prison for most of our marriage so far but it's looking like I might keep him," she says, smiling and glancing briefly at Will before turning back to Penny. "I'm sorry about the wedding, Mum. About you not being there, I mean, and Daddy not walking me down the aisle. It's just...it was all a bit rushed, and I know you were looking forward to it and-"

"Never mind about us, Mackie, you did exactly the right thing," Penny says, pausing to smile at Will. "Although I'm sure that beautiful dress is hanging somewhere crying out to be worn...perhaps you could think about having a blessing, a church service of some kind. I know a June wedding has always been your dream, but autumn weddings really can be rather lovely too, you know."

"It's a nice idea, Mum, but..." She sees Will nodding and grinning at her, the same ridiculous grin he's been giving her on and off since the minute she told him about the baby. "Autumn this year wouldn't quite work, not if I'd like my dress to fit, which by then it definitely wouldn't."

"I wasn't trying to pressure you, it was just a thought, of course it's entirely up to you..." Penny stops, her eyes widening in realisation. "Wait, are you...I mean, gosh, I-"

"I doubt the church would be entirely delighted if I were to waddle my pregnant self down the aisle, would they?" She grins at the wide smile on her mother's face, and she's glad she was able to wait and tell her in person.

"Really? I have a grandchild on the way?" Penny smiles and she nods, suddenly too choked up to answer, relieved when her mother wraps her in the kind of hug she was craving from her. "Oh, sweetheart, I couldn't be happier for you. Congratulations!"

"Thank you." She smiles into her mother's shoulder and sees Will still grinning behind them.

"Now, let's sit down, I want to know everything." Penny pulls back and turns to Will, enveloping him in an equally enthusiastic hug. "Shall I make tea?"

"Tea would be great, Mum, thanks." She sits down at the kitchen table, and Will sits down beside her, taking her hand and running his lips tenderly across her knuckles as she smiles at him.

"Oh, Mackie, I can't wait for you to tell your father, he's going to be so incredibly excited." Penny grins at her as she reaches for the teapot and waits for the water to boil. "I already remarked on how wonderful you look, so am I to take that to mean you're feeling well?"

"I feel great, yeah," she says with a nod. "A little bit tired, but actually no more than I usually am at the end of a long week. And of course now I have a great big office and an assistant who can hold my calls while I nap, so that's a bonus."

"This really has been quite a turbulent few months, hasn't it?" Penny pours the water and comes to sit with them, putting the teapot down on the table in front of them. "Getting married, your husband here going to prison, and of course...losing poor Charlie. I'm so sorry, I know how important he was to both of you, and he was such a genuinely good chap, it must have been terribly difficult."

"It was, still is." She squeezes Will's hand, wishing not for the first time that Charlie was here, to hear their news, to meet their baby in a few months. "It certainly hasn't been an easy year."

"No, I'm sure it hasn't," Penny says, smiling kindly. "But you know when we're faced with hard times, so often something wonderful comes along to even out the balance, and there really is no happier news than a new baby."

"I know," she says, smiling back at her mother. "And even though I'm not the superstitious nut job half of this partnership, I did think us finding out on the day of Charlie's funeral was...well, it felt right, I guess."

"And you absolutely get your rational side from me, of course, but still, some signs are really too bloody obvious to ignore." Penny leans in and covers their joined hands with her own, squeezing softly before she lets go and picks up her tea, putting it down almost immediately as she seems to remember something. "Good God, I haven't even asked any of the important questions! When are you due?"

"I'm afraid this is going to add another January birthday to your list." She grins, knowing what her mother's reaction will be. "The twenty-third, or thereabouts."

"I have no complaints about that whatsoever. You know I feel about January babies, they're a total delight in a dark and cold month." Penny beams at them and reaches for the tea, pouring three cups before passing the milk across the table.

"Speaking of the weather, sort of, how long has it been hot like this?" She glances out of the window at her parents' garden and she has a feeling Will is going to be peppering her father with questions now that he seems fixated on them needing a house rather than an apartment. "It's so nice."

"About two weeks, remarkably," Penny says with a smile. "It's been feeling like an actual summer, rather than a standard British one. We should sit outside for a while, make the most of it."

"We really should." Robert's voice cuts in as he walks into the room and straight over to her, pulling her into a warm hug when she stands up.

"You're awake!" She smiles as he kisses her cheek before he pulls back and reaches for Will, giving him an equally welcoming hug, a sight that only makes her smile even wider. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine." Her father answers, returning her smile. "Blasted migraine has laid me low for the past couple of days, but it does seem to have finally buggered off, thank God. How are you, my sweet girl? You look bloody marvellous."

"Glowing, wouldn't you say, Robert?" Penny is unable to contain her grin as she looks at her husband, excitement written all over her face.

"Alright...before Mum explodes, we have some news," she says, smiling at her father, who looks instantly curious but says nothing, waiting for her to continue. "I'm pregnant, Daddy, we're going to have a baby, in January."

"Well, well, that really _is_ news, and of the very best kind! Congratulations, darling." A huge grin spreads across her father's face, unsurprisingly matched by Will's. "I'd break open a bottle of fizz but that seems rather unfair on you, Mackie."

"I don't mind, I'll just have a sniff of Will's," she smiles at Penny who picks up a bottle of wine from the counter and holds it up.

"We should finish this, actually," Penny says, as Robert reaches for some glasses. "Is red alright for you, Will?"

"Sure, thanks," Will says with a nod, before turning back to her. "What about you, honey? Water?"

"Yes please." She smiles and steps over to the fridge, taking out two bottles, a water for her and a half finished white wine, knowing her father prefers it to red. "We really should sit outside while the weather's so good, don't you think?"

They head outside and her earlier suspicions were right, Will's face lighting up at the sight of the sprawling area her father modestly refers to "quite a sweet little garden" (not that he hasn't seen it before, but he's obviously seeing it in a different light this time) as they sit down. It's quiet besides the sound of birdsong and the occasional hum of the bees showing an interest in the lavender that fills the borders and smells so good, reminding her of so many summers spent here. She smiles as she realises that all of their future summer visits will be made with a little one in tow, a little one who will no doubt make the absolute most of his or her grandparents' garden, just as she and her siblings have over the years. Closing her eyes and savouring the warmth of the sun on her face, she's vaguely aware of somebody getting up from the table, and she murmurs her acknowledgment when her father says he's going to show Will what he's done with the pond this year.

"This is just what I needed," she says, opening her eyes and smiling at her mother. "Will too."

"Good, I'm so glad." Penny returns the smile and gestures in the direction of where the two men have headed. "Your father will be delighted to have someone else to bore half to death about his bloody pond."

"He's found the perfect audience in Will. This will only fuel his fire about us needing to finish the apartment and sell it so we can buy a house instead. It's all he's talked about since we found out about the baby. I really don't think he's quite grasped that babies are small for a while, we're fine in the apartment for the time being." She looks down the garden to where her father is pointing something out to Will, who's nodding intently. "In fact this trip will probably have him suggesting we move here and buy ourselves a country estate somewhere."

"What a splendid idea." Penny grins at her, knowing all too well that New York is their home and that she can't imagine it any other way. "I think it's sweet, he's obviously completely invested in making sure you and the little one are happy, and comfortable, it's rather lovely."

"I know, it is, and he...he just wants to do things right. His childhood was...well, it wasn't an easy one, and I think he just wants to make sure our kids have the opposite of that, so if he needs to freak out just for a little while, it's okay." She pauses, again overwhelmed slightly by the whirlwind of the last few months, but beyond grateful for what they now have to look forward to. "He'll calm down a little when the baby actually arrives, right?"

"Oh yes. If he's anything like your father, I'd say he'll be completely calm by the time you're onto baby number three. Harriet was the first baby he didn't look at like she was a crystal vase balanced on a high shelf." Penny smirks and takes a sip from her wineglass. "Oh don't look so worried, Mackie, he'll be fine, you both will."

"I hope so." She sighs and takes a mouthful of water, aware again of how warm a day it is.

"Have you really been feeling alright?" Penny asks, frowning slightly as she goes on. "I know you, and I'm more than familiar with your 'I'm fine' routine, so if-"

"Honestly, I've been feeling great, so good that I didn't even suspect for a second that I was pregnant," she says with a shrug. "I mean, I hadn't been sleeping very well, and I did feel a little bit tired and run down, but I just put it down to Will being in prison and work being so difficult with Pruit and everything, until I stood up too quickly at the end of a rundown meeting one day and just keeled over, I guess. Charlie marched me to the doctor's office and it was all a bit of a blur, really, questions about whether I was sleeping, eating, stressed...no, when I had to, and of course, being the answers. My doctor seemed to think it was probably anaemia, so she took some blood and said she'd call with the results. Two days later Charlie died, and then Will came home, and I forgot about the blood test entirely until she called the morning of the funeral and left me a message asking me to call her back. Do you know what I thought?"

"What?" Her mother tilts her head, squinting slightly into the sun.

"I thought she was calling to say I was dying." She smiles faintly, realising now how silly she probably sounds. "All I could think was that Will had just come home from prison, and he'd just lost Charlie and that I was going to be next. Just as we'd finally got married and everything."

"You know, you _are_ allowed to be happy without fear of a lightning bolt striking you down, Mackenzie," Penny says, reaching over and grabbing her hand, her iron grip not quite in line with her attempt at a light tone. "You of all people, after everything you've been through, deserve to be happy."

"Don't forget, Mum, I didn't think having a baby was an option, you know that, so I wouldn't have even dared to hope that's what it was even if the signs had been smacking me in the face...but anyway, she wasn't calling to tell me I was dying, obviously," she says, a small huff of laughter escaping as she remembers the call like it was an hour ago. "So yes, in answer to your question, the same question Will asks every hour or so, I feel great, I promise."

Her mother seems satisfied she's telling the truth and they sit in comfortable silence for the next few minutes, and she wonders if it's the warmth of the sun that's making her want to curl up and snooze or if pregnancy and a transatlantic flight might also have something to do with it.  
Whichever it may be, she wouldn't turn down a nap if the opportunity arose.

"And Will? How's he doing?" Penny's question doesn't surprise her, her mother has always been direct and she knows what a tough few months it's been for _her_ , so it's only natural she would be concerned for Will too. "Regardless of how tough he acts, I'm sure a spell in prison was quite the ordeal, not to mention having to leave his lovely new wife behind, and then of course losing Charlie must have been a dreadful shock."

"Yeah, he just...he's doing okay now. With the prison thing, I mean, Charlie being gone isn't getting any easier just yet, I think that's going to take a while, but at least he's home." She pauses, glancing again in the direction of her husband and her father, smiling as she sees they've now moved on from the pond and onto the borders. "I can't even begin to imagine how he would have handled missing Charlie's funeral, and...God, I'd have had to tell him I was pregnant in a prison visiting room."

"I don't imagine he would have taken it well, not being able to ask if you're alright every five minutes," Penny says with a smirk. "I really do believe this baby is a reward for everything the two of you went through, it's the result of perseverance, true love, and perhaps a little dash of fate."

"This baby is the result of both of us trying, and failing, to pretend we weren't scared to death the night before he went to prison." She watches her mother's smirk widen and prepares herself for whatever she's about to say in response.

"Ah, well..." Penny laughs and reaches over to squeeze her arm as she goes on. "I may as well share that you were the result of a similar effort just before your father was posted to Moscow, Harriet just before he left for East Berlin, Tripoli was Catherine-“

"Alright, I think it get it, Mum." She smiles, shaking her head slightly at her mother.

"It's always wise to send them off with a nice memory, darling." Penny grins widely. "It's not the same for you, of course, Will being away was the exception rather than the rule. I needed something to keep me busy when your father was gone."

"Well, it's good to know we managed to fill your time," she says with a smirk, her gaze shifting down the garden to where Will and her father are heading back towards them, her eyes meeting Will's as he approaches and sits down, smiling softly at her.

"Are you about to start on again about why we need a house, and what we need to do with the garden?" she asks, quirking an eyebrow, letting out a laugh as a sheepish look crosses his face.

"The thought hadn't crossed my mind." He shrugs and reaches for his wine, smiling over the glass at her. "But if I _had_ been thinking about it, I'd probably say I think we should steer clear of a pond, but that apple trees would be great."

"Right, so it's just a small orchard we need to find in the middle of Manhattan then?" She grins and squeezes his hand.

"Ah, that reminds me," Penny says suddenly, clapping her hands together. "I made apple pie for after dinner tonight. You know, because you're both here for Fourth of July, rather than in New York."

"Where we would, of course, be eating apple pie from dawn to dusk," she says, smiling at her mother and her excitement. "I'm kidding. That sounds great, Mum."

Will puts his glass down and his hand moves to her leg, his thumb drawing slow, soft circles over her knee, his wedding band glinting when the sun catches it, still a new enough sight that it sends an unexpected thrill through her. She watches as a dragonfly hovers silently over the table, seeming to consider its next move, although more likely pondering its safety.

“Did you know that a dragonfly devotes eighty percent of its mental processes to its vision?” she asks, wondering how she knows that even as she’s certain it’s true.

“I didn’t know that.” Will says, a smile colouring his answer, his tone suggesting no surprise at such a fact coming from her. “Did _you_ know the Chinese consider the dragonfly a symbol of harmony and prosperity, while the Japanese see them as symbolising power, agility and victory?”

“You would know all that superstitious stuff, wouldn’t you?” She grins, never failing to be amused by this side of him, still clearly remembering the first time he dragged her clear of a ladder years ago, not because it was about to fall, simply because he couldn’t bear to see her walk under it.

“Well, as fascinating as that is, all I know is if it lands on me, you shan’t see me for dust,” Penny says, eyeing the dragonfly cautiously.

“They don’t bite or sting, Mum, and one of their preferred foods is the mosquito.” She sees her mother’s eyes widen as the dragonfly hovers closer. “So they’re actually providing a pretty valuable service.”

"I’m sure that’s true, darling, but there’s just something about them…" She stops, shudders slightly, and reaches for her wine glass. "They’re like tiny living helicopters, and I just don’t-"

With a sense of timing so perfect she wonders if it may have considered a control room career, the dragonfly swoops down and stops just short of the arm of the one person at the table who appreciates it the least. With a shriek, her mother is up and out of her chair, and before there’s time for anyone to act, the half full glass of red wine is making its way down the front of Mackenzie’s shirt. Sighing, she’s about to stand up to head inside and tackle the mess when she’s hit with a second drenching which soaks yet further into the already stained cotton. Looking up she sees her mother with an empty glass in each hand, biting her lip as she shrugs faintly.

“Before I go inside and clean this up…” She stands up, aware as she looks down that her white cotton shirt may be beyond saving. “Is there anyone else who might want to hurl their drink at me?”

“It was white wine, Mackie.” Penny says sheepishly. “It was the first thing that came to mind for removing a red wine stain.”

“I think when people use that method, it tends to be on rugs, rather than on clothes with people still in them,” she says, rolling her eyes. “But I appreciate the thought. Sort of.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” Her mother looks suitably shamefaced at least. “Why don’t you go inside and change, I’m going to make a start on dinner anyway. In the kitchen, where there are no dragonflies to cause any more trouble.”

“Alright,” she says, realising she’s hungry when her stomach growls at the mention of dinner. “Come with me, hon, I know you'll freak out if I attempt to drag our luggage up the stairs.”

“That's me, your faithful manservant. Maybe I can help peel your wet shirt off too?” He stands up, murmuring into her ear, the snort from her mother suggesting he needs to work on knowing when a murmur is not quite low enough, his startled look clueing him in.

"Go, both of you. Get changed, freshen up, unpack. I'll let you know when dinner is ready." Penny says, a smirk fixed firmly on her face. "For what it's worth, you have about...forty minutes."

"Noted." She smiles as her mother walks towards the house, turning to him and sliding her hand into his. "Dammit, Billy, I think she knows how this baby got in here."

"She had five of her own," he says, giving her a wry smile. "I'd hope she knows _exactly_ how it works."

"You know, if we have forty minutes to kill before dinner, and I absolutely have to remove at least my wine stained shirt..." Tugging on his hand, they start to move up the garden. "I'd really rather not spend any of that time talking about, or even thinking about my parents' sex life."

"Good point." He squeezes her fingers and they head for the door. "Alright, let's...unpack."

"Sure, unpacking sounds like a plan." She nods, pausing as they stop in the hallway to collect their luggage. "Unpacking is totally a euphemism, right?"

"I don't know, honey, we do have a week's worth of clothes in here that we probably should hang up..." He pauses, grins at her and drops her hand to reach for the suitcase. "Fuck yeah, it's a euphemism."


End file.
